JEWS AROUND THE WORLD
~Ruth Brin

Who Are These Jews?

There were women who sat in the market
selling beets and cabbages so their men could study:
They were Jews.

There were men of Yemen, great swordsmen,
guards of the king: they were Jews.

There are dark women of India, wearing saris,
Black farmers from Ethiopia, Children with slanted eyes:
All Jews.

There are dressmakers and sculptors, thieves
and philanthropists, scholars and nurses,
beggars and generals.

There are women who follow every rule of Kashrut and
men who know none of the rules, yet all of us are Jews.

Though we are not alike in mind or body,
somewhere in the depths of our souls
we know we are the children of one people.

We share history, a hope, and some prayers:
We speak many languages:
We have heard one Voice:

All of us stood together at Sinai
When our past and our future
Exploded in thunder and flame before us.

Great swordsmen, guards of the king; they were Jews.

1922: King Abdulla Ibn Hussein of Transjordan sits under the watchful eyes of his Jewish bodyguards, Habanni Yemenite brothers Sayeed, Salaah, and Saadia Sofer.